Natural Images in Economic Thought

Natural Images in Economic Thought
Author: Philip Mirowski
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 640
Release: 1994-07-29
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780521478847

This 1994 book was the first collection devoted to impact of natural sciences on content and form of economics in history.

Nature in the History of Economic Thought

Nature in the History of Economic Thought
Author: Nathaniel Wolloch
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 345
Release: 2016-10-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1315534797

From antiquity to our own time those interested in political economy have with almost no exceptions regarded the natural physical environment as a resource meant for human use. Focusing on the period 1600-1850, and paying particular attention to major figures including Adam Smith, T.R. Malthus, David Ricardo and J.S. Mill, this book provides a detailed overview of the intellectual history of the economic consideration of nature from antiquity to modern times. It shows how even someone like Mill, who was clearly influenced by romantic notions regarding the spiritual need for contact with pristine nature, ultimately regarded it as an economic resource. Building on existing scholarship, this study demonstrates how the rise of modern sensitivity to nature, from the late eighteenth century in particular, was in fact a dialectical reaction to the growing distance of modern urban civilization from the natural environment. As such, the book offers an unprecedentedly detailed overview of the intellectual history of economic considerations of nature, whilst underlining how the history of this topic has been remarkably consistent.

Humanity and Nature in Economic Thought

Humanity and Nature in Economic Thought
Author: Gábor Bíró
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2021-11-29
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000476960

Humanity and Nature in Economic Thought: Searching for the Organic Origins of the Economy argues that organic elements seen as incompatible with rational homo economicus have been left out of, or downplayed in, mainstream histories of economic thought. The chapters show that organic aspects (that is, aspects related to sensitive, cognitive or social human qualities) were present in the economic ideas of a wide range of important thinkers including Hume, Smith, Malthus, Mill, Marshall, Keynes, Hayek and the Polanyi brothers. Moreover, the contributors to this thought-provoking volume reveal in turn that these aspects were crucial to how these key figures thought about the economy. This stimulating collection of essays will be of interest to advanced students and scholars of the history of economic thought, economic philosophy, heterodox economics, moral philosophy and intellectual history.

Metaphors in the History of Economic Thought

Metaphors in the History of Economic Thought
Author: Roberto Baranzini
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2022-08-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000638456

Metaphors in the History of Economic Thought: Crises, Business Cycles and Equilibrium explores the evolution of economic theorizing through the lens of metaphors. The edited volume sheds light on metaphors which have been used by a range of key thinkers and schools of thought to describe economic crises, business cycles and economic equilibrium. Structured in three parts, the book examines an array of metaphors ranging from mechanics, waves, storms, medicine and beyond. The international panel of contributors focuses primarily on economic literature up to the Second World War, knowing again that the use of metaphors in economic work has seen a resurgence since the 1980s. This work will be of interest to advanced students and researchers in the history of economic thought, and economics and language.

Historians of Economics and Economic Thought

Historians of Economics and Economic Thought
Author: Steven G Medema
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 655
Release: 2001-08-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1134665458

The history of economic thought has always attracted some of the brightest minds in the discipline. These chroniclers of development have helped form our current views, and it is no surprise that many among them have been at the forefront of new movements in the history of ideas.This notable collection summarizes the work of these key historians of

A History of Ecological Economic Thought

A History of Ecological Economic Thought
Author: Marco P. Vianna Franco
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2022-08-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000624617

Contributing to a better understanding of contemporary issues of environmental sustainability from a historical perspective, this book provides a cohesive and cogent account of the history of ecological economic thought. The work unearths a diverse set of ideas within a Western and Slavic context, from the Renaissance and the Enlightenment to the late 1940s, to reveal insights firmly grounded in historiographical research and of import for addressing current sustainability challenges, not least by means of improving our grasp on how humans and nature can generously coexist in the long term. The history of ecological economic thought offered in this volume is rich and diverse, encompassing views that are bound by the observance of the tenets of the natural sciences, but which differ significantly in terms of the role of energy and materials to cultural development and the normative aspects involving resource distribution, social ideals, and policy-making. Combining the approaches of independent scholarly figures and scientific communities from different historical periods and nationalities, the book brings elements that are still missing in the scarce literature on the history of ecological economic thought and highlights the underlying threads which unite such initiatives. The book brings a fresh look into the historical development of ecological economic ideas and will therefore be of great interest to scholars and students of ecological economics, environmental economics, sustainability science, interdisciplinary studies, and history of economic thought.

A History of Scottish Economic Thought

A History of Scottish Economic Thought
Author: Alexander Dow
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2006-09-27
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1134287119

Scottish Enlightenment is an established area of research interest, and this volume offers new scholarship on key Enlightenment figures whilst placing emphasis on their approach to economic thought.

Contributions to the History of Economic Thought

Contributions to the History of Economic Thought
Author: Antoin Murphy
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2000-12-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1134608209

Featuring original contributions from some of the leading contemporary figures in the history of economic thought, this book offers new perspectives on key topics, from Smith's Wealth of Nations to the Jevonian Revolution. Drawing inspiration from the life and work of R.D.C. Black, formerly Professor of Economics at Queen's University Belfast, this book will be of essential interest to any serious scholar of economic thought.

The Mantra of Efficiency

The Mantra of Efficiency
Author: Jennifer Karns Alexander
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2008-03-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780801886935

Winner, 2010 Edelstein Prize, Society for the History of Technology Efficiency—associated with individual discipline, superior management, and increased profits or productivity—often counts as one of the highest virtues in Western culture. But what does it mean, exactly, to be efficient? How did this concept evolve from a means for evaluating simple machines to the mantra of progress and a prerequisite for success? In this provocative and ambitious study, Jennifer Karns Alexander explores the growing power of efficiency in the post-industrial West. Examining the ways the concept has appeared in modern history—from a benign measure of the thermal economy of a machine to its widespread application to personal behaviors like chewing habits, spending choices, and shop floor movements to its controversial use as a measure of the business success of American slavery—she argues that beneath efficiency's seemingly endless variety lies a common theme: the pursuit of mastery through techniques of surveillance, discipline, and control. Six historical case studies—two from Britain, one each from France and Germany, and two from the United States—illustrate the concept's fascinating development and provide context for the meanings of, and uses for, efficiency today and in the future.